H & D LEAGUE: Kirkby win at last

Rhys Howell

Kirkby Malzeard finally won a Harrogate & District Football League Premier Division game, grabbing a 2-1 success at Pannal Sports.

The villagers remain rooted to the foot of the table despite their first victory in 11 top-flight outings in 2016/17, but are now within touching distance of relegation rivals Kirkstall Crusaders and Burley Trojans.

Tom Hixon and Glenn Lyons were the men who netted the all-important goals for Kirkby as they ended a winless run in that stretched back as far as April.

Bedale Town scored twice in stoppage time to snatch a dramatic 4-3 win on the road at Harlow Hill.

The home side led 1-0 at the break and looked on course for all three points as they added two more goals after the resumption.

David Cooke notched after 75 minutes to give Town hope and Ross Hodgson then struck 10 minutes later.

Goals in the 92nd and 94th minutes from Hodgson and Jonny Morris then sealed a fabulous late fightback.

Beckwithshaw Saints consolidated third place in the table when they beat Burley Trojans 3-1 on home soil.

Man of the match Sylvester Rowe continued his fine form in front of goal with a game-winning hat-trick.

In Division One, Pateley Bridge kept their promotion push on track when they edged past Addingham in their maiden outing of 2017.

Bridge started the brighter and took the lead with only three minutes on the clock.

Liam Gaffney was fouled 25 yards from goal, and Matthew Brayshaw stepped up to curl a stunning free-kick into the top right-hand corner of the net, leaving the Addingham keeper grasping at thin air.

Tom Barritt brought the visitors back on terms with a sweetly-struck strike from just inside the box following a counter-attack, but Pateley were back in front before the half-time oranges.

With 44 minutes gone, man of the match Dan Brown burst down the left wing and unleashed a shot that took a deflection and looped over the stranded away custodian.

The second period was a scrappy affair with both sides struggling with the conditions on a difficult pitch and missing some clear-cut chances in front of goal.

Bridge came closest to adding to their tally when substitute Pa Ceesay rattled the crossbar from 18 yards out in the 80th minute.

The Celts also won by a 2-1 scoreline on Saturday, triumphing at Dalton Athletic thanks to efforts from Tom Lee and Craig Robinson.

Duncan Padget hit back for Athletic with a sixth goal in his last six appearances, but the hosts finished up empty-handed.

Helperby United secured a first league win in nearly two months when they overcame struggling Boroughbridge A.

Chris Simpson, Tom Orton and Steve Ferguson found the back of the Boroughbridge net in a 3-1 success, while Paul Scaife bagged a consolation for the home team.

Knaresborough Celtic recovered from falling two goals behind to seal a place in the semi-finals of the League Challenge Cup.

Visitors Hampsthwaite United appeared in full control at 2-0 up with half-time approaching, but Matty Adamson and Edmore Morau with his 30th strike of the season registered in quick succession to level things before the interval.

There were no more goals until the 85th minute when centre-half Sam Davey got forward from defence to fire in the game’s decisive goal.

Celtic skipper Liam Gray was named man of the match following an impressive, industrious display in the midfield engine room.

Kirk Deighton Rangers will join Knaresborough in the last four courtesy of a 1-0 home success over Division Two title favourites Thirsk Falcons.

In an extremely tight affair, there was little between the two sides, particularly in the first period and both teams’ goalkeepers made good saves to ensure that the game remained level at half-time.

After the break, Kirk Deighton slowly began to gain the upper hand and Joe Turley netted the only goal of the afternoon with 80 minutes on the clock, firing in after being teed up following some good work by Luke Trower.